In a year marked by historic economic development deals Virginia is recognized as number one in CNBC’s 2019 ranking of America’s Top States for Business.

“Virginia has long been blessed by a strong economy and we are proud to be recognized, once again, as the best state for business,” said Virginia Chamber President & CEO Barry DuVal. “In collaboration with our strategic partners, elected officials, and business leaders from around the state, we have worked continuously to improve Virginia’s economic climate and our efforts have paid off. This is a team win. The Virginia Chamber and our partners remain committed to improving the business climate of the Commonwealth through the implementation of Blueprint Virginia 2025.”

Blueprint Virginia 2025  is a comprehensive initiative that provides business leadership, direction, and long-range economic planning for Virginia. During 2017, the Virginia Chamber of Commerce engaged business and community leaders from around the Commonwealth to build an action plan for strengthening Virginia’s economic competitiveness and getting Virginia back to the top of business climate rankings. More than 6,000 leaders across the state participated in the development of Blueprint Virginia 2025 and the plan has been endorsed by more than 90 organizations with a focus on economic development.

CNBC’s methodology incorporated more than 60 metrics across 10 categories. Not only was Virginia ranked number one overall but also ranked as the top state in the workforce and education categories. The newly located HQ2 project for Amazon in Arlington, VA, was noted as “a key factor in Virginia’s biggest economic development win in recent memory.”

“While, we are grateful for this recognition, there is still much work to be done to sustain this position in an increasingly competitive landscape,” said DuVal. “CNBC’s competitiveness rankings continue to provide focus on areas that need further improvement, such as reducing the cost of doing business.”

The full CNBC rankings can be found here.

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About the Virginia Chamber of Commerce

The Virginia Chamber of Commerce is the largest business advocacy organization in the Commonwealth, with more than 26,000 members. The Chamber is a non-partisan, business advocacy organization that works in the legislative, regulatory and political arenas to act as the catalyst for positive change in all areas of economic development and competitiveness for Virginia. In December 2017, the Chamber released an update to its long-term strategic economic development plan, Blueprint Virginia 2025, which engaged over 6,000 business and community leaders to lay out a plan to getting Virginia back to the top of national business climate rankings. Learn more at www.vachamber.com